Mass Effect: Renegade Path
by antienoftheshadows
Summary: The first of a trio of alternate endings, Mass Effect: Renegade Path follows the actions of Commander Elayne Shepard during the final hours of the Reaper Invasion.


_Disclaimer: I do not, in any part, own any fragment of the IP that is the Mass Effect series. That is totally and completely the domain of BioWare and EA….I'm just dabbling in their sandbox for a bit._

_AN: So, since there has been such a hullabaloo in regards to the ending of Mass Effect 3, I thought I'd try my own hand at spinning a new set of endings for the massive space epic. Any lines that look like they're taken directly from the game, probably were. This is merely an alternate ending. I did not totally scrap the last 20+ minutes of the game, just modified it. _

_And so it begins…._

* * *

><p><em>"Did we get anyone to the beam?"<em>

Was that comm chatter she heard? So she wasn't dead…

_"Negative. Our entire force was decimated"_

_ Decimated?_ Shepard reached for her pistol and slowly rose to her feet, wincing as hot lances of pain shot through her legs. One of them was probably broken. She took a cursory glance at her surroundings. The soft blue-white of the beam cast a dim glow upon the battlefield. _Dead_, she thought, seeing the bloodied corpses of marines scattered around her. _They're all dead. Where's Garrus? Liara! _She turned swiftly, searching frantically for any sign of her missing lover. She grunted and grasped her side with her free hand. Clearly now was not the time to be panicking. There as a slight, whisper-like humming in her ears-likely the result of blood loss and the beam. _I must get to the beam. It's what…agh… she'd want me to do._

Shepard shakily held up her pistol and limped towards the beam. Hearing low moans from the direction of the beam, she quickly fired off six rounds. Three husks fell dead before her. _At least they weren't survivors_, she thought, _better to be safe than sorry though. _ She continued limping towards the beam, her trigger finger ready to fire as needed. Another six rounds. A Marauder falls. _Damn it, what's next? A brute? A banshee? Oh, perhaps a ravager for good measure. I've got to get to that beam. _

Shepard stumbled her way into the beam. Her mind drifted to memories of Ilos and the Conduit.

~~~()()()~~~

_ "Shepard! Do you even know how to drive this thing?"_

_ Elayne growls. "Shut up Garrus. Do you know how hard it is to-Hang on!" The Mako swerves left. "How hard it is to drive this thing while being-" another swerve "-shot at by Geth Colossi" Elayne glances over at Liara who was hanging on for dear life. If anyone should be complaining, it'd be Liara-she was looking rather purple. _

_ "Elayne," Liara said softly. "Can we really do this?" _

_ "Damn straight Liara. We're going to stop this once and for all, 'cause we're the only ones who can. We're gonna be big damn heroes when this is all over." _

_ "Shepard! The Conduit's about to-" _

_ "Stop yammering Garrus and go calibrate something." Elayne slammed her foot hard on the accelerator and sped right into the range of the Conduit and onward to the Citadel. _

~~~()()()~~~

_ "Shepard."_

Elayne pushed herself up off the hard floor and reached for her pistol…which wasn't there. _Great, stuck in a hostile environment with no weapon. Great job Elayne, Mother would be so proud. _

_ "Shepard."_

"Anderson? Is that you?"

_ "Followed you up, but we didn't come out in the same place…at least I don't think we did. What's your surrounding look like?" _

Elayne gasped and stumbled forward. There, lying a few feet away, was her pistol. If only she could reach it.

_ "You okay?"_

Elayne shuffled forward, picked up her pistol and replied. "I feel like Kalros' evening special, how do you think I'm feeling?" She started forward again, stepping tentatively so as not to aggravate her still bleeding wounds. Carefully, she observed her surroundings. "It's dark, human remains are piled up everywhere, a few unobservant Keepers…"

_ "Sounds familiar. I'm in a dark hallway… reminds me of your description of the Collector base."_

"Of course it does, they're harvesting humans. The Collectors were doing the same thing and I wouldn't be surprised if they were rebuilding that Human-Reaper here."

"_Goddamn abomination. I'm going to keep moving. The sooner we blow these bastards back to hell, the better." _

"Anderson? Anderson wait!" No response. "Damn it," Elayne whispered and continued forward. _This is still the Citadel, right? Doesn't look like any part of the Citadel I've ever seen at least. Then again, Kai Leng did escape through a series of tunnels…perhaps this is part of that same network? _

_ "Woah!"_

"Anderson!"

"_The walls here are shifting, Shepard, changing. It's as if the place is alive. Hold on…there's a chasm up ahead, and a way out I think. I'm going on ahead."_

A wall panel in front of her abruptly slid open - revealing a large open expanse and a bridge-like structure spanning a chasm. _Good, there's a light up ahead, _Elayne thought, _perhaps that's the exit Anderson saw. _ Elayne slowly ascended the stairs, eventually arriving at a round platform with what appeared to be a control panel and- "Anderson!"

Anderson turned towards her, woodenly, and jerked forward as if he was a puppet controlled by an inept puppeteer. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. In the silence, Elayne noticed the whispers from earlier had increased in their intensity. "Well well, it seems I've underestimated you Shepard." Elayne struggled to turn her head towards the voice. _I can barely move, what's going on? _She saw him then, The Illusive Man. That bastard...

"I warned you," he said as he moved toward the center of the platform, "Control is the means to survival. Control of the Reapers…and of you, if necessary."

Anderson struggled to speak. "No…urgh….they're…controlling you."

"I don't think so, Admiral."

Elayne chuckled. "If you can control them, why bother wasting your time controlling us?"

The Illusive man looked puzzled for a moment. "Because I need you to believe…." Elayne raised an eyebrow, or tried to at least. Was that the best reason he could come up with? She stared blankly at him as he went off on a tangent about humanity discovering the mass relays, being afraid of what we would find, our technology advancing more than the past ten thousand years combined and finally to the point. Control of the Reapers would throw human technology forward again but- _agh! My head..._

_ "_…only if we can harness their ability to control." Elayne watched as her arm raised itself to point her pistol towards Anderson.

"You're messing with power that you don't… no… cannot understand; power that you have no right to wield."

He turned to face her. "No. If we can control it, why shouldn't it be ours?"

Memories of Legion flashed before her eyes. "The Geth Heretics thought similarly. They too took what was offered by the Old Machines, the Reapers. They sought power they did not earn…the same as you and look where it got them. They died by my hand, and so will you. "

"No," The Illusive Man replied, turning away from Elayne, "No, Shepard. This is the way humanity must evolve; the way we were meant to evolve."

"You're insane."

He turned back around. "I've spent my life studying the Reapers and I am certain that the Crucible will allow _me_ to control them." He gestured grandly.

Elayne scoffed. "Let's say you succeed, somehow, and gain control. What then?" She glances at the man then turns her focus back to her disobedient arm. If only she could get it to move.

"What then? What…then?" He moved swiftly towards her. "Look. Look at the power they wield! Look at what they can do!" He clenched his fist, glowing blue with biotic usage. Elayne's gun fired. Anderson doubled over. She sighed.

"I see what they did to you." She glares up at him. "You're indoctrinated. Your every action is permitted by their will alone."

He stumbles backwards as if shocked. "No…no…everything I have…everything I've done…I've taken from them. Taken! My mind is my own!"

Elayne smirked. She's got him. "Then do this, open the arms of the Citadel. Let the Crucible dock. Prove to me you can do that. Prove it."

He turns sharply and stumbles towards the control panel. Before crossing the short distance, the Illusive Man comes to an abrupt halt. He sighs and pulls out a gun. "I… I can't do that Commander."

"Of course you can't. They own you now...but you can still fix this."

"You're right…I can do this." He points his gun towards Elayne. "Goodbye Shepa-" A round is fired. The Illusive Man drops silent. Elayne lowers her pistol. "I'm sorry…"

Now fully in control, Elayne limped towards the control panel. _Here goes nothing. _Elayne's fingers danced across the holographic keyboard, and with a mighty screech, the Citadel's arms began to open. She fell to the ground, weakened legs giving way, and watched as the Crucible divested itself of its shell and drifted into the Citadel. _Come on, come on...almost there._ She could hear Admiral Hackett's voice on the comm, belting out instructions to the Shield group. Finally the Crucible was docked, its spherical body resting slightly below the Citadel Tower with its four arms grasping at the Presidium's edges.

Elayne dragged herself over to Anderson's body. With what little strength she had left, she propped him up against the control panel. "We did it, Anderson. We did it," she whispered, a soft smile resting upon her face. She pulled herself up so that she was sitting beside him. Elayne looked down and lay a hand on his still form. "I'm sorry," she said, a lone tear dripping down her face. "I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't save you." Suddenly Anderson breathed. It was a slight raspy breath, but a breath nonetheless.

"Anderson!"

He opened his eyes slightly and smiled. "The Crucible? It's docked?"

"Yes Admiral," Elayne replied, "We did it. We'll be home soon."

"You did good Shepard, real good. I'm...proud of you," he whispered softly before he stilled once more. Elayne gently closed his eyes and smiled, trying to stop her tears. Now was not the time, nor the place, to do so. She looked back up and out to the stars. It was finished. All that was left to do was wait.

So they waited…

And waited…

And waited…

_"Commander! Commander Shepard! Nothing's happening. The Crucible's not firing."_

"What?" Elayne asked, pulling herself up.

_"I don't know what's happening; it must be something on your end…" _

"I don't know what you expect me to do Admiral. It's not like I'm an expert on these things or anything," she muttered before slamming her fist down on a blinking red button. Elayne fell back down as the floor beneath her shuddered and began to rise. Her vision faded to black.

~~~()()()~~~

"_Wake up."_

Elayne blinked slowly, awakening to the sight of a ghostly boy walking towards her. She shook her head and stood. It wasn't just any boy…it was _the_ boy- the one who died back when the Reapers first struck Earth…the boy who'd been haunting her dreams. This wasn't another dream, right? "Who…who are you and," she looked around, "where the hell am I?"

"_I am the Catalyst, and this is my home."_

Elayne looked around confused. "But I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst?"

The spectral child shook his head. "_No, the Citadel is a part of me_." Elayne blinked. She supposed that made some sort of sense.

"I need to stop the Reapers," she said to the child," do you know how to do that?" The child stared at her with his eerie ectoplasmic eyes. "_Perhaps,_" he said and began to walk away. Elayne followed. _"The Reapers were my solution."_

"Solution? Solution to what?"  
><em>"Chaos." <em>The child stopped and turned to Elayne. _"The created will always rebel against their creators and we found a way to stop that from happening; a way to restore order for the next cycle."_

"By wiping out organic life?"

_"No. We harvest advanced civilizations, leaving the younger ones alone- like we did for your kind during the last cycle."_

Elayne looked out towards the battle that surrounded them, watching the smaller fighters spiral around the giant purple cuttlefish. "But you destroyed the others," she replied to the child.

_ "We helped them Ascend to make way for new life, storing the old life in Reaper form." _

Elayne laughed. "I think we'd prefer to keep our own forms, thank you very much."

The child glared at her. _"You can't. Without our intervention, synthetics would one day destroy all organics. That's why we created the cycle, to prevent that from ever happening."_

Elayne desperately wanted to throttle this child like no child had been before, but could not summon the will to do so. "But we do not want to be preserved. We made our own mess, let us find a way out of it. We always have, and we always will."

The child looked thoughtful for a moment. _"The very fact that you, an organic, are standing here means that our solution is no longer viable. So, we must create a new solution." _The child gestured towards the center of the room. _"The addition of the Crucible has made new possibilities, so choose."_ The child pointed towards the far right pathway where a mass of cables encased in glass lay. _"You came here to destroy us. You can destroy all synthetic life if you want; including the Geth…and most of the technology you rely on. Even you are partly synthetic." _

Elayne looked at the child. "But the Reapers would be destroyed?"

_"Yes, but the peace won't last. Eventually, your descendents would create more synthetics and the chaos would return." _The child then looked to the far left where two electrified pillars stood with forks of lightning dancing between them. _"Or, you could control us…"_

"So the Illusive Man was right…." Elayne muttered.

_"Yes, but he could not control us, for we already controlled him."_

"But I can?"  
><em>"Yes, but you will die. You can control us, but you would lose everything you have." <em>

"But the Reapers would do as I command?"

"_Yes. There is….one final option."_

"And that is?"

"_Synthesis. Add your energy to the Crucible's and everything you are will be absorbed, processed and sent out. The chain reaction will combine all synthetic and organic life into a new framework-a new DNA."_

_ "_But there will be peace?"

"_Yes. Synthesis is the final evolution of life, but we need each other to make it happen. You have a difficult decision. Firing the Crucible will end the cycle, but it will also destroy the Mass Relays. The paths are open, but you have to choose."_

Elayne stared blankly. She could destroy the Reapers…and all synthetic life? No. She couldn't do that. She had worked too hard to bring peace between the Geth and the Quarians to do that; and after Legion's sacrifice? _Does this unit have a soul? _ No. She could not. But could she control them?

"A power that we cannot understand…" she whispered as visions of the Illusive Man's death flashed before her eyes. But synthesis? Yes. That would be the best option, wouldn't it? If all were the same, there would be no more war, would there? No more threat of extinction; everyone could live in peace. Joker and EDI…yes, for Joker and EDI I will…

_** We are your genetic destiny**_

Elayne grasped her head as pain shot through it. Along with a memory of Harbinger's voice, a stray thought flitted through Elayne's mind. _Reapers are a fusion of organic and synthetic too…aren't they. _Elayne glanced at the three terminals suspiciously highlighted in red, blue and green.

_**You do not yet comprehend your place in things**_

Elayne's eyes narrowed. _Wait a minute. Something about these choices seem a little off. If I control the Reapers, I die and the Reapers live; if I choose Synthesis, I die and the Reapers still live; if I destroy the Reapers, the Reapers will die and I might live. The terminal for control is lit in blue-Alliance colors. The terminal for destruction is lit in a red-orange-Cerberus. Finally synthesis, lit in green-green is the color of life, of growth. Choose anything, and the relays are destroyed. A relay destroyed is a system destroyed. Destroy all the relays…everyone dies anyway._

_** Shepard, you could have been useful**_

Elayne growled. _So he wants to play it that way. Liara forgive me. _She looked back towards the Catalyst who was waiting behind her, swaying slightly in barely noticeable impatience. "Hey Catalyst! You're forgetting the fourth option." She turned to face the spectral child.

_"There is no fourth. You must choose."_

Elayne shook her head. "But I have chosen. I reject your choices. I, Commander Elayne Shepard, Citadel Spectre, member of the Systems Alliance and current representative of organic life do thank you, Catalyst, for your efforts in our preservation. We, as of this moment, request that you now simply leave us to our own devices. Your solution is no longer a necessity." Elayne turned and looked out towards the battle. "You said that synthetics and organics cannot coexist peacefully. Look out there. Do you see what I see? I see synthetics and organics united against a common threat. I see a galaxy united. I see hope."

_"No!" _The spectral child now bore the form of long dead Kaiden Alenko. _"You need to choose Commander. Is my sacrifice in vain?"_

Elayne glared at the Catalyst, seething. How dare he defile the dead. "I have made my choice. The galaxy stands united. We can win this. We. Don't. Need. You. We destroyed Sovereign, we held the line on Palaven, and we destroyed Reapers on Rannoch, Tuchanka and Earth."

Legion stood before her now. "_Shepard-Commander, you need to make your choice now. We are unstoppable." _

Elayne had stopped listening by this point and focused once more on the battle. "You're scared aren't you; scared that we'll actually defeat you. In previous cycles your Reapers struck quickly and quietly, stabbing everyone in the back before they even knew you were coming. But you never fought against a united military force. Now, because I'm here, you might actually loose. That's why you sent the Collectors after me, wasn't it? To prevent this from happening."

A ghostly hand now rested on her shoulder. _"Please choose Shepard, if not for yourself, then for your daughters." _

Elayne cursed softly. It was using Liara's voice now, wasn't it? Elayne blinked and quickly replayed all of the Catalyst's words in her mind. Every word spoken had that strange bass undertone to it didn't it? Remove the higher, familiar voice and another one is revealed. The whispers, the shifting walls, the ghostly figures-everything was beginning to add up. "No, I have chosen. I have chosen the way I always have and always will. We have made it this far flying in the face of destiny and certain death, and we certainly will not stop now. Attempts to indoctrinate me will not stop me _Harbinger." _

The view of the Citadel and the battle quickly faded, revealing only the cold, dark interior of a Reaper. Before her lay a control panel and Harbinger's core, just like in the Reaper around Mnemosyne. Elayne dove towards the controls, her hands flying across the holo-keyboard.

_ "Commander! Commander do you read me?"_

"I'm here Joker. Before you ask, yes, I'm alive. Now patch me through to Admiral Hackett."

_ "Right away Commander." _

_ "Commander Shepard, this is Hackett."_

"Admiral, I don't know how but I'm inside Harbinger. I'm opening the arms of the Citadel remotely. Ready the Crucible."

_ "Very well Commander." _

Elayne watched through a viewport as the Citadel's arms opened and the Crucible docked, for real this time. The Crucible once more did nothing. Suddenly a blue beam blasted out and struck Harbinger. Elayne ran back to the control panel. The panel was now glowing a light blue instead of its previous orange. Rapidly popping up around her were more holo-monitors depicting many streams of data."Oh my god," she whispered, "I'm networked to all of them." She smirked.

"Assuming direct control you bloody bastards. Joker, get me a shuttle and fast."

_"Right away Commander."_

"Now…activate the Citadel relay…"

~~~()()()~~~

Garrus rolled behind a pile of bricks, narrowly dodging a ravager's missile. He turned slightly and noticed Liara crouching behind another wall, reloading her SMG. He rolled over to her, dodging another missile blast. Passing another thermal clip to her, he asked, "Liara, how're you holding up?"

"We're fine," she replied as she fired upon a few husks.

"We? Damn it Liara, you're pregnant aren't you?" Liara frowned; clearly she hadn't meant to say that. "Come on, we have to get you to safety," Garrus said, pulling her towards the nearest building. _Shepard would not be pleased if I let any harm come to you. _For a moment, Liara complied, allowing him to pull her away from the fight without much resistance. Now, she dug her heels in and stopped.

"Garrus, look!"

Garrus turned and surveyed the battlefield. The entirety of the Reaper forces had stopped, completely stopped. The Krogan warband ahead of them were charging forward, knocking husks over left and right like bowling pins. There was a peppering of small explosions as every available marine blasted their Cains at the nearest Destroyer. Slowly, the grounded Reapers began to rise into the air.

"Keelah! They're leaving?"

Garrus turned slightly. Tali had crept up on them. "I think so," he replied. He looked back up towards the floating Reapers.. "She did it, didn't she?"

"Of course she did." Tali and Garrus turned towards Liara. "She's Commander Elayne Shepard, Mistress of the Impossible," Liara said, lips curling into a smirk. Garrus watched as the last of the Reapers floated away. The marines started to cheer, and the Krogan... well, the Krogan started dancing. Not something he ever wanted to see again. Ever.

"Garrus… are you crying?"

So he was…so he was.

~~~()()()~~~

_ "Diana Allers here with Commander Shepard, our hero. So Commander, tell us, what did you do during those last few moments inside Harbinger?"_

_ "Well, let's just say I sent it and its friends off to a memorable location where a certain base was destroyed and repeated my actions from my trip near Mnemosyne. At that point, any action performed by Harbinger was repeated and relayed by every other Reaper."_

_ "So you sent them beyond the Omega-4 relay and blew them all to hell?"_

_ Shepard blinked. "I guess that's one way you could say it."_

_ "There you have it folks, the fate of the Reapers straight from the Commander herself. This is Diana A-"_

The transmission cut off abruptly. "Put the recording away and come back to bed Elayne, the girls will wake soon…"

"Yes dear…"


End file.
